Took Him by Surprise but it All Made Sense
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: High school AU: Someone has been leaving Aris small gifts leading up to Valentine's Day. Part of him is flattered, while the other part of him is concerned that they could be from someone he doesn't feel the same about.


**Notes**: The next story in my Valentine's themed arc of TMR one shots. Jane, the Group B equivalent of Chuck, is my original character. Rachel's appearance is a personal interpretation.

* * *

"Oooh looks like somebody's got an admirer," Sonya sang out with a teasing smile.

"What?" Aris asked as he entered the classroom behind her.

She pointed to his desk and Aris craned his neck to see that there was a small bundle of colored pencils on his desk, tied with a white ribbon, a tag dangling off one of the ends. Aris shrugged as he walked over to his desk and mumbled that maybe it was a fluke.

Sonya rolled her eyes as she walked over and looked over his shoulder at the tag.

_Hey!_

_You mentioned during Art class that your old set of colored pencils was ready to retire, so I thought I'd give you a new set. Don't worry – they aren't the cheapo ones that leave a waxy residue or lack a vibrant pigmentation when you use them – did my research and these were the top of the line. Can't wait to see those beautiful artworks in class. _

_~Your Secret Admirer_

"Told ya so," Sonya said with a smirk as she pointed to the line "Your Secret Admirer" on the tag. "So, I wonder if they'll strike again."

"Probably not," Aris mumbled as he put the pencils into his bag.

Sonya opened her mouth to protest when Harriet tapped her on the shoulder and muttered something about the teacher coming in soon. Aris settled into his seat at his desk and pulled out a notebook for today's lesson. As the teacher began writing the lesson on the board, Aris hunched over his notebook and began writing the key points on a clean page. He allowed a smile to cross his face as he wrote. He didn't know who would possibly want to give him a new set of colored pencils but it was a nice gesture.

_Why did Art class have to be after lunch?_ Aris thought as he flipped open his textbook to the page on Quadratic Equations.

* * *

"Today we're going to wrap up work on our portrait series," the art teacher announced. "If you've already finished with your required number of models, please finalize the details on the portraits, turn it in, and start reading the section on Depth and Background. Those who still need to fulfill the 6 model quota, please raise your hands."

Aris reluctantly raised his hand and looked around when he saw that luckily, most of the class was in the same boat. He tended to take a lot of time to focus on the details of his subject, which sometimes hindered him in the end. The teacher counted hands and began pairing off students to use as models. Aris ended up with Teresa Agnes as his first model of the day and he picked up his artist sketchbook and supplies as he made his way over to the corner where she was sitting.

"Let me tie my hair back first," Teresa told him as she fished out a hair tie and began winding it into a low ponytail at the back of her neck. "Mmkay you can start."

"Okay then," Aris murmured as he began penciling in the basic shapes for Teresa's features lightly with a soft pencil. Once he got all the shapes in place, he switched to a medium pencil and began darkening the areas he wanted to keep in the final sketch. As he worked, he tried to make small talk with her.

"How many models do you still need to draw?" Aris asked as he held up a pencil to take a distant measurement of an angle on her cheek.

Teresa had been sitting there silent and with little expression on her face. At Aris's question she snapped out of her reverie and smiled. "Oh I'm done actually. Just need to finalize a few details. You?"

"Three more," Aris admitted as he took the pencil he had been using to measure the angle and laid it on the page. He traced the angle with another pencil and began measuring another angle on Teresa's face.

"You excited for Valentine's Day?" Teresa asked as she tilted her head towards Aris.

Aris put down his pencil and met Teresa's look. She had a curious twinkle in her bright blue eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat. Nah, no way was it Teresa – she had Thomas in her life, right?

"Umm not…not really," Aris stammered as he tried to focus again on finalizing Teresa's features on his paper. "You?"

Teresa nodded her eyes wide and blazing thoughtfully at him. Aris picked up the pace and locked in the details for her face before reaching for his new set of colored pencils. He picked up one that was about the same tone as Teresa's skin color and began to color lightly with the side of the pencil in the middle of her face. He then held his pencil upright and pressed a little harder as he shaded the areas that were darker, like the areas near her side bangs and the shadow cast by her nose onto her cheek.

"Ooh is that a new set?" Teresa spoke up as she pointed to his pencils. "Those are really nice – I think they're best colored pencils ever!"

"Ye-yeah they are new," Aris said as he switched to a darker color to emphasize the deeper shadows on Teresa's face. _Then again…_ he thought, _she was the first to ask about them – well whatever. She's probably making small talk._ He continued to work on adding in the colors for her hair, eyes, and lips until the teacher told them to change partners.

Teresa stood up from her seat and walked over to Aris to take a look at his work. "Yeah that turned out really great – the color application is fantastic. And you never need much with those – a little pressure can go a long way." She thanked him before moving onto the next person for the portraits.

Aris studied the colors and smiled when he saw how nice they looked – he was incredibly grateful to whoever gave him the pencils this morning, as they really pulled the final result together. He flipped to a clean page in his notebook as Jane, a first year, plopped down in the seat across from him.

"Hi Aris!" she said as she settled into the chair in front of him. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," he murmured as he switched to a regular pencil for the basic shapes of Jane's face. "Do you have many portraits to work on?"

"I just did my last one," she said as she clasped her hands together and rested her chin on top of them. "How many do you have left?"

"Two more," he said as he began to lock in the shapes.

Jane grinned as she quickly blew a bubble with her gum and sucked it back in when the art teacher looked their way.

"You really shouldn't be taunting fate like that," Aris said as he looked up from his page. "She's gonna catch you someday."

Jane rolled her eyes and scrunched up her face. Aris stopped drawing and looked her in the eye. "Hey! You gonna sit still or am I gonna have to draw someone else?"

Jane blinked through her long lashes and her shoulders sagged before she returned to her original pose with her chin resting on her clasped hands. "Cool it Stick, no need to be so serious," she sighed as she tried to sit still. Her eyes wandered from Aris's tilted head to the bundle of colored pencils tied with a white ribbon on the desk beside him.

"Somebody got new pencils," she noted. "Why do you have the ribbon?"

Aris put down his medium pencil and began choosing colors for Jane's skin tone. "They came that way. Well, I mean, they were on my desk when I came in this morning."

Jane's eyes widened at that comment and she fixed her gaze on Aris. "From?"

"I don't know," Aris sighed as he added shadows on Jane's face and in between her knuckles. "Just said 'Your Secret Admirer', whatever that means."

"It's probably someone who cares a lot about you," Jane mused with a thoughtful look. She pursed her lips as she thought for a few moments. "You got any idea who it –"

"Okay you should be switching now!" the teacher called out as she checked her watch.

Jane sighed and shot Aris a sad face as she got up from the chair and bid him goodbye. Aris shot her a polite smile before turning to the next blank page in his sketchbook and preparing himself for the final model. He looked up to see Rachel taking a seat in front of him and she smoothed a wrinkle out of her skirt as she sat.

"Hey Rach," he greeted her as he began laying down the basic shapes for her face. "How's it going?"

"Not bad," she said as she tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "I've got one portrait left to do before class ends so I'm hoping I can finish in time."

"I'm sure you will," Aris reassured her as he locked in the shapes and details with darker lines. He tested a few potential skin colors on the corner of his page and picked up the lightest option for the foundation color of Rachel's warm skin tone.

Aris became so focused on Rachel's portrait that he didn't notice that Rachel had turned her head to see Jane making a smug, impish face at her, then Aris. Rachel crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at an angle, which made Jane burst out laughing and break her concentration for the person who was currently sketching her.

"What's so funny?" Aris asked Rachel as he looked up from the page.

"I wasn't laughing – Jane was," Rachel said as she nodded over at the blonde first year. "Always goofing off that one – sometimes I swear she and Chuck should have been related."

"Yeah? Sometimes I wonder if she tries to be annoying all the time," Aris muttered as he tested colors for Rachel's hair.

Rachel parted her lips and closed them before saying, "Hey, I know she's kinda…squirrelly sometimes but it's not easy for her – her aunt is making her come to this school and she's had a hard time adjusting and making friends. It doesn't help that Beth bullies her from time to time."

Aris looked up from his notebook and frowned when he heard Rachel's first sentence. "Aunt?"

"20 minutes before class ends!" the teacher called out. "You can switch now if you'd like or keep working on your current portrait. If you don't finish today, please finish it at home and bring it in on Friday."

Rachel snapped her head back towards Aris after the teacher made his announcement. "Yeah um, her parents got very sick when she was a baby, so her aunt raised her. They uh, they don't have the greatest relationship because her aunt wants her to be a workaholic and Jane wants to be able to have some fun every now and then. Her aunt won't let her have friends over, that's how strict she is."

"Oh," Aris murmured as he put his pencil down. "That's…wow. I'm sorry – now I feel horrible for thinking she's annoying."

"It's okay," Rachel said with a shrug. "I'm one of her few friends at school – she can sometimes act like the annoying little sister you never asked for, but she's loyal and she'll help whenever she can."

"That…makes sense," Aris said as he put down his sketchbook. "I'm done – did you need to draw someone else?"

Rachel nodded as she picked up her sketchbook from under the chair and opened it to a clean page. She pulled a pencil from the rubber banded bunch she had brought with her and started to lay down the foundation shapes and lines for Aris's face with quick, fluid movements. She switched pencils and began to darken features before shading shadows in.

"You work fast!" Aris said as he watched her sketch.

"Well, usually I don't work this fast but I want to get it done today," Rachel admitted as she looked up briefly to scan Aris for exact placement of the shadows on his face. She looked back down at her sketchbook as she added a few more details in before closing her sketchbook and re-adding her pencils to the bunch in the rubber band. About a minute later, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

"That was good timing," Aris said as he stood up and started packing things into his bag. "Thanks Rachel."

"You're welcome," she said as she put her things away. She bid him goodbye before heading up to the teacher's desk and leaving her sketchbook in the pile. Aris added his to the pile before leaving the classroom.

* * *

"The secret admirer strikes again!" Sonya announced the next day when they walked into Math. Aris wrapped up his conversation with Harriet about last night's Chemistry homework and stared at the cellophane bag sitting on his desk, again, tied with a white ribbon.

"What's today's gift?" Sonya asked as Aris took a seat at his desk.

He peered into the bag and saw that it was chocolate. They were all round, some dusted with cocoa powder, others covered in crushed nuts, and a few with powdered sugar over them. He untied the ribbon and slid the tag off to read it.

_Hi again,_

_I remember there was a moment back in middle school when Beth swiped some chocolates you got from your mom, who had sent them from France. I wasn't able to help back then, which I regret, but I wanted to try to make some for you. Granted, they aren't from France (wasn't able to take a Berg and just jet over to France for a day and back) but I did some recipe hunting and figured out how to make French truffles. Hope you like them – they're mostly dark chocolate with a few hazelnut centers, since I know you really like real hazelnut chocolate and not Nutella._

_~Your Secret Admirer_

"Aww that's sweet!" Sonya said as she read the tag over Aris's shoulder. "You gonna try one now?"

"Miss Sonya, may I remind you that there is absolutely no eating in my class." the teacher said as he put down his briefcase on the floor. He turned to Aris who was putting them into his bag and mumbling an apology.

"Thank you Mr. Aris," the teacher said as he picked up a whiteboard marker. "Now, I have a little pop quiz for all of you today. Please put away all of your notes…"

* * *

"You haven't tried one yet?!" Sonya demanded when they met up at lunch. She put down her sparkling water with a loud thud and stared at Aris with a frustrated look on her face.

Harriet rolled her eyes as she put her tray down next to Aris's and took a seat. "Leave him alone Blondie," Harriet scolded as she opened her napkin wider to place on her lap. "If he wants to eat them later, he can." She studied her tray and made a face at the contents in the various compartments. "Unbelievable. My parents are paying a couple grand a year to help me get into a good college through this school and the food looks as bad as the public school stuff. Go figure."

Aris pulled out an apple from his bag and Sonya gave Harriet the other half of her chicken wrap. Harriet thanked them as she pushed her tray to the side with a face.

"That is depressing," Sonya agreed as she studied the contents of the tray. "Maybe the roll and the cookie are worth saving?"

"Don't eat the rolls," Aris warned as he wiped his mouth. "They're expired – they just freeze them and inject a chemical formula into them to make them seem fresh. I know because I had to help Thomas with kitchen prep one time we got in trouble for stumbling into the teacher's lounge by accident."

"Ugh! Seriously?!" Harriet groaned as she scrunched her face up. "Lovely. Wonder if I can convince my parents to just let me go to regular school and stick it out there. Gotta be a little better than a place that tries to experiment on us like lab rats with their chemicals and stuff."

"Anything about the cookie that we should be worried about?" Sonya asked as she stared at it warily.

Aris shook his head no and dug around in his bag for the cellophane bag of chocolates. "Hey, you guys want one?"

"Yes please!" Sonya said as she held out her hand. "Anything but hazelnut."

Harriet nodded as she chewed a bite of the chicken wrap and pointed to an extra napkin that Aris could put the chocolate on. Aris untied the ribbon and put a cocoa dusted one in Sonya's hand and a powdered sugar one on Harriet's napkin.

"Thanks for sharing Aris!" Sonya said as she took a small bite of the chocolate. She sat there with wide eyes as she savored the bite while Aris picked one covered in hazelnuts and tried it.

"Wow, I mean, whoever is your admirer, they are talented, no doubt about that," Sonya said as she took another bite of the truffle. "That is heavenly."

Harriet wiped her mouth after she finished her half of the chicken wrap and took a sip of water. She took a bite of her chocolate and gave Aris a thumbs-up. "They could start a chocolate shop and I'd go there. Well, scratch that, maybe not a good idea 'cause I'd gain a lot of weight if that happened to be nearby."

"You do like your chocolate, don't you?" Sonya said with a knowing look. She turned to face Aris who was licking the remaining chocolate off his fingers. "Good?"

"I would have sworn that these came from a fancy boutique instead of being made in a kitchen!" Aris said with a surprised look. "But I'm not anywhere closer to figuring out who it could be."

Harriet and Sonya exchanged a look and tried to rack their brains for possible admirers.

"Um, well I know Frypan's good at cooking," Sonya said thoughtfully.

"Or maybe Teresa – she's a fellow chocoholic like me," Harriet said as she studied the apple. She noticed Aris's expression when she mentioned Teresa's name and she frowned. "What's wrong with it possibly being Teresa?"

"Oh well, um…" Aris stalled. "No look Harri, it's just…I thought she and Thomas had a thing, ya know?"

Harriet burst out laughing and Sonya shook her head. Aris frowned as he looked at both of them and they apologized for laughing before explaining that they were cousins.

"Seriously?"

"Yes! That's why they look almost alike!" Harriet said. "Teresa's single if you were wondering – no guy's had the balls to ask her out yet."

"But Aris made a good point – not every guy knows that Thomas is related to her," Sonya pointed out. "They probably haven't asked because they think those Sticks are dating."

_Actually it's not just Thomas hanging around her a lot_, Aris thought as he retied the ribbon around the bag. He didn't dislike Teresa – actually she seemed like a pretty cool person but Aris wasn't sure that they were right for each other. She was very headstrong and prone to getting mouthy with anyone who challenged her or questioned her skill set. There were a few times that her big mouth landed her in detention or in one case, suspension for arguing with a teacher about their grading scale for a project that made little sense.

But she was in the same class with him when they were in middle school, meaning she had witnessed Beth stealing his chocolates from him. Frypan had been in another class so it wasn't him. However, there was Brenda – she had tried giving him her rice krispy treat when she saw how sad he was about losing those chocolates. Gally had also gotten upset with Beth when she tried to offer him a chocolate and he roared at her that he didn't like her, nor did he want someone's stolen chocolate.

_I'm bound to find out in a few days, right?_ Aris thought as the bell rang to end lunch.

* * *

"Pencils, chocolate…" Harriet mused when they walked into their Math class on Friday morning, "wonder what your admirer's gonna do to top those."

Aris moved around Sonya in an effort to reach his desk quickly. This time he saw a medium sized red box sitting in the center of his desk, the white ribbon crisscrossing over the box with a bow on top. He untied the ribbon and removed the lid from the box once he sat down. Inside was a wooden cube with sliding rectangular pieces inlaid within the surface of one of the sides. Sonya stared baffled and mumbled that it was an interesting choice to go from chocolate to a fancy decoration.

"I have a feeling its more than that," Aris replied. He lifted the cube out of the box and found the tag underneath at the bottom of the box.

_Hey again,_

_I know what you're thinking – what is the pattern with the gifts? Well, I'm sorry to say that there really isn't a specific pattern – it's just based on things I've observed or know about you. It may not look like much, but take another look and use that big brain of yours to figure this out. I know you're into puzzles so I'm sure you can figure this one out._

_I'm sure you're probably wondering when I'll reveal my identity but once you figure this one out, you'll have your answer. Good luck!_

_~Your Secret Admirer_

"So…it's a puzzle?" Sonya asked as she raised her brows curiously. "Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before."

Harriet frowned as she looked closely at the box. "Looks like something some Stick made in Shop Class."

Aris frowned as he racked his brain trying to think of who was currently in Shop Class this semester. Gally, Winston, and Beth were in that class. He wanted to say that Teresa and maybe Brenda were also taking it but he couldn't remember. He swallowed hard as he put away the cube as his Math teacher began the lesson for today.

* * *

"I can't watch this anymore," Sonya groaned as she put her head down. "You've been working on that thing a lot today!"

Aris looked up from sliding some of the panels around and he rolled his eyes. "Well I wanna solve it!"

"There's probably nothing in there Stick," Harriet said as she brushed a dreadlock out of her face. "It's just probably meant to keep you busy for a while until the Stick who's leaving you these gifts reveals their real identity."

Aris ignored them as he took a sip of his soda and slid two panels diagonally to the top left of the box. He froze when he heard a clicking sound. He quickly slid two more panels to the bottom right corner and heard a second click. Harriet blinked as she leaned forward and Sonya raised her head from the table at the sound of clicks.

"I heard something," Sonya said as she sat up straighter. "Does that mean you've cracked it?"

Aris shrugged as he brought the last four panels together in the center before pushing the bottom 2 panels to the left and the top panels to the right. But the box didn't make any clicking sounds.

Aris reset the last four panels in the center and tried them in the opposite direction. He heard a clicking sound when the top panels went to the left but nothing for the bottom ones. He frowned as he stared at the panels and tried swapping their positions before re-sliding them to the right. He heard a final click before he felt the surface pop up ever so slightly to reveal a compartment.

"I was wrong," Harried murmured as she peered into the cube. "Sheesh, this Stick's got a lot of time on their hands to come up with things like this."

"Clearly they are as smart as you are," Sonya noted as she watched Aris lift the pendant from the box. "What is it?"

Aris untangled the leather cord from around the pendant and saw it was a circular maze design, carved out of wood. He put it around his neck and studied it curiously.

"That is really cool," Harriet said as she leaned across the table to get a better look.

"But now I'm wondering who it could be," Sonya said as she looked back at the box. "I mean, this person's gotta be in your Art class and be taking Shop if they were giving you art stuff and wooden puzzle boxes with necklaces."

"Not sure," Aris sighed as he took a bite of his sandwich. "But I'll find out soon, right?"

Harriet peered into the box and pointed out the folded square of paper that had been underneath the necklace. Aris fished it out and unfolded it to read the message.

_Hey Aris,_

_Congrats – I knew you would figure it out! _

_As promised, I will reveal my identity to you tomorrow. Hope you're not too busy to meet me at noon at the gallery/café space on Scorch Trail Rd. and Ivy Way. I'll be wearing something purple. _

_~Your Secret Admirer_

"Looks like you'll be getting your answer soon," Harriet noted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

_I just hope it's someone that I feel the same about,_ Aris thought as he dumped his trash into the respective containers.

* * *

"Maybe you should wear a dress shirt and tie?"

"Tie?! He's not going to a job interview Sony!"

"Well it is a date, so he should dress nicer than how he dresses on the weekends!"

"What do you mean?" Aris asked as he looked through his closet. He cradled the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he ran a hand across his face. Why did he agree to take their call this morning? They had both called him to see if they could help him prep for the admirer reveal. Sonya was trying to give him advice about how to dress and Harriet was encouraging him to just go and be himself.

He sighed as he picked out a pair of black jeans, a white button down shirt, and suspenders. "Guys, I've got it figured out but I gotta run," he said as he clicked the End Call button.

* * *

Aris locked his car and put the keys in his pocket as he walked out of the parking lot, trying to avoid the cars zipping into his row in search of a spot. He looked both ways before crossing the street and walking to the entrance to the trendy gallery/café fusion space called . He checked his watch before looking around for someone wearing purple.

"Hey Aris!" a voice called from behind.

He turned around and saw it was Teresa who had called his name. He smiled politely at her and waved as she walked up to him. At first he was worried that it really had been her who left him the gifts but as she neared, he saw that she was wearing a red top with a black skirt – no traces of purple anywhere in her outfit.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she said as she hugged him. She looked around before pulling her phone out to check messages. "Hey, you haven't seen Bren yet, have you?"

Aris raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Bren?"

Teresa looked up from her phone and said, "Brenda. She's supposed to meet me here – we're both dateless on Valentine's Day, so she suggested we come here and have a Singles Awareness day together."

"Oh…um no, I uh, I haven't seen her," Aris said as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Teresa stood on tiptoe and flagged down Brenda. "Found her! You waiting for someone?"

Aris nodded and greeted Brenda as she came up. Teresa took her hand and began guiding her into the location.

"See you in there!" Brenda called over her shoulder as they entered.

Aris smiled before turning to look out over the parking lot to see if he could see anyone in purple. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he took a deep breath before turning around.

"Hey, really sorry I'm late," Rachel apologized as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Traffic was ridiculous getting here. Have you been waiting long?"

Aris shook his head no and he studied her thoughtfully. She was wearing a purple dress with a white cardigan over it with a matching purple headband that pushed her side bangs off her face.

"You're my secret admirer?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Yes I am," Rachel said as she slid her clutch wristlet on her other arm. "I know the clues and gifts seemed a little out of the blue, but…we've gotten along so well these past years and I thought it would be great to, um, I don't know, see if there was something more?"

Aris met her eyes and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. Rachel's eyes widened as Aris pulled away and she touched her cheek, color flooding into her face.

"You have no idea how happy I am that it was you," Aris said as he straightened up. "But one question – you're taking Shop this semester?"

Rachel shook her head no and laughed. "Oh no, no, no I'm not! I did take it our first year in school and the teacher said as long as you either took the class or were currently in the class, you were allowed to come back to the lab after school."

"That's a fair deal," Aris said as he held up the pendant. "Decided it was perfect for today."

"Oh I'm glad you liked it," Rachel said. "I wasn't sure whether it was something you'd like but I know you were always a fan of the puzzles and maze assignments we had back in elementary school."

"It's perfect – thank you," Aris said. "I feel terrible for saying this, but I had forgotten that we were in the same class together in middle school."

"It's okay! I transferred classes because my schedule no longer fit for my old homeroom teacher's schedule," she explained. "I had been with the class for about 2 days really when Beth swiped your chocolates."

"The ones you made were ah-mazing!" Aris said. "I now feel bad that I didn't bring anything for you. Well, actually, I wasn't sure who to expect today so I didn't want to bring something and it be the wrong thing."

"Hey no worries!" Rachel said as she placed a hand on his arm. "I don't need anything in return – all I really wanted was to grab lunch with you and check out this exhibit to see if its any good. That okay?"

Aris nodded and he strode up to the door and held it open for Rachel. She thanked him as she walked in and he smiled as he followed.

_I wouldn't have chosen anyone else to spend today with_, he thought as they walked into the gallery space.


End file.
